animals Review Methane Emissions and the Use of Desmanthus in Beef Cattle Production in Northern Australia Bénédicte Suybeng 1, Edward Charmley 2, Christopher P. Gardiner 1, Bunmi S. Malau-Aduli 3 and Aduli E. O. Malau-Aduli 1,* 1 Animal Genetics and Nutrition, Veterinary Sciences Discipline, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia 2 CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Private Mail Bag Aitkenvale, Australian Tropical Sciences and Innovation Precinct, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia 3 College of Medicine and Dentistry, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +61-747-815-339 Received: 10 May 2019; Accepted: 6 August 2019; Published: 9 August 2019 Simple Summary: An in-depth review of Australia’s tropical beef cattle production system is presented with emphasis on the use of Desmanthus, a tropical legume, as a nutritional supplementation strategy for the abatement and mitigation of methane emissions. It also identifies current knowledge gaps in in vivo methane emissions research. Abstract: The Australian beef industry is a major contributor to the economy with an estimated annual revenue generation of over seven billion dollars. The tropical state of Queensland accounted for 48% of Australian beef and veal production in 2018. As the third biggest beef exporter in the world, Australia supplies 3% of the world’s beef exports and its agricultural sector accounts for an estimated 13.2% of its total greenhouse gas emissions. About 71% of total agricultural emissions are in the form of methane and nitrous oxide.